IB Stop Order

This morning I put in a buy stop order using IB. The order was to buy 1 ECZ6 @ 1.2801 on a stop. In a very slow market I was filled at 1.2824. I've emailed them for an explanation, but wanted to post here to see if anyone else has had a similar experience with them and what to expect. My experience with their customer service has always been horrible and I expect the same this time around. Any help or advice is appreciated.

It seems to me that quality of fill is a function of the exchange where the order is executed. All the broker will do is route the order there and return a report. It sounds like IB did just that.

A stop order becomes a market order when elected. With a market order, you give up price for guaranteed fill. If you are more concerned about price, you should use a limit order. You cannot have both guaranteed fill and preferred price.

By the way, I have gotten poor service in the past from IB, but the last time I called they were prompt, courteous, and knowledgeable. I think they deserve credit big improvement in customer service.

Thanks for the response. I'm going to try a stop limit order when I run this system again tomorrow. The one lot is due to bad experiences with stops and IB before. I know about the stop becomes a market order, but my stop was hit at 7:33 central. The time of my fill was 8:30 central. I can understand this happening with the release of economic numbers and in a fast market, but this appears to be more of a techinical glich. Also, from what I can tell, IB holds stop orders for Globex until the stop price is hit.

You're probably right about a technical glitch, but be aware that brokers are usually not held responsible for losses due to technical problems.

GLOBEX does not have native market orders, and I have found simulated market orders to be unsatisfactory. You can do better yourself with stop limit orders with the limit far enough from the market to ensure an immediate fill. You are supposed to be guaranteed price improvement to the current bid/ask.

I'm testing something new with 1 lots and today was the first day! Best to learn with just a little money at risk. I'll give it a shot with a stop limit order tomorrow and also keep more of an eye on it. Trust me, I have no expectation os being compensated or even told something went wrong by IB.

Also, as a side note, I'm using another broker to test the same system with stop and got filled at 1.2801 no problem.

Thanks for the response. I'm going to try a stop limit order when I run this system again tomorrow. The one lot is due to bad experiences with stops and IB before. I know about the stop becomes a market order, but my stop was hit at 7:33 central. The time of my fill was 8:30 central. I can understand this happening with the release of economic numbers and in a fast market, but this appears to be more of a techinical glich. Also, from what I can tell, IB holds stop orders for Globex until the stop price is hit.

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Your "bad experiences with stops and IB" is more than likely due to your own lack of knowledge with how TWS works.

For instance, I will lay odds that if you check your stop triggering method, that you have not checked the box that allows stop triggering outside of regulatr trading hours. IB deems that regular trading hours start at 8:30 CST, which interestingly is the time of your fill.:eek:

To check, go to your TWS, click on configure, then order, then order defaults. A page will open that gives you your order settings. Under order type you can select stop to see what your trigger method is. Just under that, you can see a box which says "Allow stop triggering outside of regular trading hours. That box needs to be checked if you want a stop to be triggered at 7:30 CST. My guess is your box is unchecked.

The bottom line is that you have to do some reading about TWS, so that you understand it. The fact that you most likely didn't isn't IB's fault is it?

You are correct in saying that I don't have too much experience with their system and putting in stops. I set up the trade at 5 am central then went off to work. I do not have access to regular IB system at work so I can not check the set up.

Thanks for the response. Needless to say, I have yet to get a response to my email to IB. I probably just should have come here first for direction.

Make sure you learn the lesson here. The lesson is read the User's Guide...CAREFULLY. The lesson isn't the have more experience, because that might mean that you have unfortunate experiences. IB is a good broker, and TWS is a good system. But you've got to understand it to use it.

You are correct in saying that I don't have too much experience with their system and putting in stops. I set up the trade at 5 am central then went off to work. I do not have access to regular IB system at work so I can not check the set up.

Thanks for the response. Needless to say, I have yet to get a response to my email to IB. I probably just should have come here first for direction.

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rarhoads, you were pretty quick to provide a bad review for IB because you didn't receive an immediate response to an EMAIL. Sorry but that's unrealistic and pretty poor on your part. Perhaps given the error was yours (haven't read the manual carefully or followed the online tutorials) you'll consider retracting your review.

On our site under help/customer service we have a link that states: "tips for best service" it states:

IB offers a variety of ways to get assistance and information including phone support, email, and chat. While you can ask the same question using any of these channels, depending on the nature of your inquiry, you will get the best and most efficient service by using the methods recommended below.

Phone inquiries: recommended where there is time sensitivity, for example, a problem with an order or trade. In general, IB will answer our phone lines within a minute. Funding/Banking inquiries usually take longer. We suggest Ticket or Chat instead of phone for the following areas: funding, tax, statements, dividend & corporate actions

Inquiry/Trouble Ticket: a new secure form system, enables a question to be sent from Account Management that is delivered directly to our main Customer Service database system. From here, the question is routed to the specialist or team within IBâs Customer Service that is certified in the particular area of inquiry. It is SMART routing for questions.
You will get an immediate reference number for the ticket, and your question will be allocated to a service agent usually within 2 hours. Where possible, we will also provide an answer within this timeframe, but even if additional research is needed, you will know who is handling your case, and be able to track its progress.

IB-Chat: our new chat service is accessible via Account Management. It is designed to connect you to the service specialist best qualified to answer your question. Because it is authenticated and uses secure communications, IB staff are able to provide account specific information in a secure manner. Web page content, conferencing, and feedback are all features of this new system; transcripts are available on demand. We particularly recommend IB-Chat for Funding/Banking and Account Application inquiries.

Email: help @ interactivebrokers.com. Old and slow technology, but it works. We will continue to support email inquiries, but email will always receive lower priority than the other service channels. Urgent, or time sensitive questions should never be submitted by email.